9.6" Cretaceous Fossil Fish (Spaniodon) - Lebanon

This is a large specimen of a fairly rare fossil fish from the Cretaceous, Lebanese lagerstatten, Spaniodon. It's 9.6" long and shows beautiful preservation and detail.

There are several repaired cracks with some minor gap fills running through the fish but the restoration work is very well done and not noticeable. The back of the rock has been backed with fiberglass and epoxy for stability since it is fairly thin. Comes with a display stand.

The discovery of amazingly preserved marine fossils near Hakel, Lebanon dates back many centuries. In fact they were first mentioned in writing by Herodotus, over 450 years before the birth of Christ. The first scientific work on these localities began in the 1800's and these deposits have been meticulously quarried by several Lebanese families for over a century. We purchase our specimens directly from one of these families that have worked the quarries for generations.

These deposits represent a warm, shallow sea and have yielded over 70 types of fish as well as numerous other genre found no where else in the world. The preservation on many of these specimens is truly amazing including including examples of soft bodied preservation.